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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance - shown by continuous applause.






2. A string of chords played in succession.






3. A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.






4. A complex piece of music. Usually the first movement of the piece serving as the exposition - a development - or recapitulation.






5. Short detached notes - as opposed to legato.






6. A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.






7. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






8. A symbol used in musical notation indicating to gradually quicken tempo.






9. A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition - each voice enters at different times - creating counterpoint with one another.






10. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






11. Movement in music where the characteristics are crisp and direct.






12. The playing or singing the upper half of the vocal range. Also the highest voice in choral singing.






13. Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it.






14. Elaborate polyphonic composition of the Boroque and Renaissance periods.






15. String instruments that are picked instead of bowed.






16. Pertaining to the sonata form - a fast movement in triple time.






17. A group of 4 instruments - two violins - a viola - and cello.






18. The retuning of a stringed instrument in order to play notes below the ordinary range of the instrument or to produce an usual tone color.






19. One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment.






20. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






21. The first violin in an orchestra.






22. Singing in unison - texts in a free rhythm. Similar to the rhythm of speech.






23. Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.






24. A set of six musicians who perform a composition written for six parts.






25. The first tone of a scale also known as a keynote.






26. Pertaining to the sonata form - a fast movement in triple time.






27. Group of singers in a chorus.






28. Pertaining to the fugue - the overlapping of the same theme or motif by two or more voices a few beats apart.






29. Convenient method of numbering a composer's works where a number follows the word 'opus'.For example - Opus 28 - No. 4.






30. Passage for the entire ensemble or orchestra without a soloist.






31. Three notes played in the same amount of time as one or two beats.






32. A portion of the range of the instrument or voice.






33. The opening section of a piece of music or movement.






34. To shift to another key.






35. Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.






36. A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists.






37. The study of forms - history - science - and methods of music.






38. Pertains to tone or tones.






39. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






40. A set of seven musicians who perform a composition written for seven parts.






41. The unit of musical rhythm.






42. Harsh - discordant - and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.






43. The intonation - pitch - and modulation of a composition expressing the meaning - feeling - or attitude of the music.






44. A group singing in unison.






45. A rhythmic succession of musical tones - a melody for instruments and voices.






46. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






47. The period of music history which dates from the mid 1800's and lasted about sixty years. There was a strong regard for order and balance.






48. The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






49. A hymn sung by the choir and congregation often in unison.






50. A melodic or - sometimes a harmonic idea presented in a musical form.